On the boards / mies is more

Residential Architect, May, 2004 by Shelley D. Hutchins

the Birmingham, Mich.,-based architectural firm McIntosh Poris Associates is charged with adding to And renovating a 78-acre garden community known as Lafayette Park, in downtown Detroit. But this isn't just your plain Jane neighborhood revitalization. Lafayette Park claims the largest collection in the world of buildings designed by master Modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It's a successful community that's thrived for nearly half a century.

"It's exciting and intimidating," says principal Michael Poris of his firm's Mies mission. "We are working for one of the original developers, Daniel Levin, who knew Mies and his vision, we have to be approved by the historic district commission on a project that is Modern, and there are several concerned residents who have lived there since the townhouses were completed in 1956."

Mies designed 26 of the community's buildings, including townhouses, two high-rise residential towers, and a school. The dwellings edge a 19-acre linear park with the school at its center. Poris admires the plan for its solid connection to "brilliant landscaping by Alfred Cladwell." It's a quality he doesn't wish to lose when his firm's 30 new townhouses join the mix.

The firm must also preserve the community's commitment to affordability. Existing homes in the complex are very reasonably priced (co-op townhouses sell for about $130,000, and apartments in the towers rent at about $700 a month). "Our initial response was to build in steel and glass to fit with what's there now," says Poris, but budget constraints and a rigorous approval process mandated brick cladding. Still, the architects were able to spec brick with metal flecks, punctuated by symmetrical aluminum-framed glazing. They also worked hard to devise simple, open floor plans in keeping with Mies' pared-down interiors, albeit with a contemporary supply of closets and bathrooms. Says Poris, "We didn't want to mimic Mies' designs, we wanted to harmonize with them."